COVID-19 
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SOURCE: The Conversation
2/24/2021
Many Black Americans Aren’t Rushing to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine – A Long History of Medical Abuse Suggests Why
by Esther Jones
From J. Marion Sims to the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments to the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks' DNA, there are ample historical reasons for Black Americans to feel that medical authorities are unconcerned with their safety and mistrust new COVID vaccines. Acknowledging this history is essential for public health authorities to gain trust.
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SOURCE: The Atlantic
2/22/2021
We’re Just Rediscovering a 19th-Century Pandemic Strategy
by Sarah Zhang
“We’ve gotten so good at preventing so many diseases, there’s been a loss of knowledge and a loss of experience,” Jeanne Kisacky, the author of Rise of the Modern Hospital, says.
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SOURCE: Tropics of Meta
2/19/2021
The Current Republic of Suffering
by Murray Browne
Drew Gilpin Faust's "This Republic of Suffering" inspires reflection on how the collective experiences of COVID and the loss of a half million Americans may shape the society that emerges.
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SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
2/23/2021
Having Vaccines Alone isn’t Enough to Defeat COVID-19
by Joyce Chaplin
Early efforts at smallpox innoculation showed the importance of social and political factors in making new medical technologies effective.
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SOURCE: New York Times
2/21/2021
What This Wave of Anti-Asian Violence Reveals About America
by Anne Anlin Cheng
Trump could not have rallied the kind of hatred that he did without this country’s long history of systemic and cultural racism against people of Asian descent.
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2/21/2021
Who Deserves Credit for Inventing Vaccination? And Why Does it Matter Today?
by John Rhodes
Historical honesty requires acknowledging the African and Asian inoculation practices that preceded and enabled Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine. Telling this story more broadly might also encourage vulnerable communities of color to embrace the COVID vaccine.
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SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
2/12/2021
Medical Racism has Shaped U.S. Policies for Centuries
by Deirdre Cooper Owens
Medical racism over centuries has "created a system of belief and practice that allowed doctors to place blame on Black people for not having the same health outcomes as White people."
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SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
2/16/2021
Mardi Gras is a Critical American Tradition — Even Without Parades
by Olivia Durand
Mardi Gras rituals and public celebration have reflected the efforts of some white New Orleanians to establish and preserve white supremacy and the efforts of Black and Creole residents to express demands for freedom; the festivities are not just a party but "the active performance of what American society cares about."
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SOURCE: Washington Post
2/15/2021
They Survived the Holocaust. Now they’ve Come Together to Endure the Pandemic
A Jewish historical institute in Vienna has worked to protect the health of vulnerable Holocaust survivors, but it's found the work of preserving social contact and sharing stories just as vital.
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SOURCE: New York Times
2/13/2021
With Mardi Gras Parades Canceled, Floats Find a New Home
In a development unseen since the city's Mardi Gras begain in 1857, New Orleans residents under COVID lockdown are turning their houses into parade floats, an informal support program for artists missing the yearly boost the parade season brings.
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SOURCE: The New Yorker
2/9/2021
What’s at Stake in the Fight Over Reopening Schools
by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
In cities like Chicago, parents anxious to return children to school have blamed teachers' unions. The historian and New Yorker columnist argues that some proponents of reopening are using racial equity arguments in bad faith while ignoring the gross racial inequalities that characterized schooling-as-usual before the pandemic and the work of teachers' unions to fight it.
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SOURCE: New York Times
2/6/2021
Goodbye to the Cult of SoulCycle
by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
The attachment of deep spiritual meaning to commercialized exercise brands creates a climate ripe for abuse and exploitation, writes a historian of fitness culture.
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SOURCE: Medium
2/8/2021
The Difference Between a Great President and a Terrible One is Empathy
by Lindsay Chervinsky
"As President Trump begins his post-presidential life, Americans will start to reckon with his legacy. They need look no farther than his callous indifference to human life — his response to the crisis marks the ultimate failure of presidential leadership."
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SOURCE: Smithsonian
1/26/2021
History Shows Americans Have Always Been Wary of Vaccines
Medical historian Keith Wailoo addressed a recent Smithsonian webinar on the history of American hostility to vaccination, joining public health experts.
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SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
2/1/2021
The Key to Combating Conspiracy Theories about Coronavirus Vaccines
by Cameron Givens
Historical knowledge of the roots of misinformation about viruses and vaccination will be essential to overcoming it.
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SOURCE: Bartlett Annual Review
1/28/2021
How Will the Pandemic Shape the Future of Work?
by Judy Stephenson
The pandemic is exposing the historical contingency of "jobs" as opposed to "tasks" – as capital returns to a piecework model in the gig economy, the concept of job security is in danger of vanishing.
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SOURCE: ROAR
1/23/2021
Anything is Possible: Toward an Abolitionist Vision
by Marc Lamont Hill
Abolitionism is about more than dismantling prisons. It is also about building a world with universal access to safety, self-determination, freedom and dignity.
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SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
1/26/2021
COVID-19 Dashboards are Vital, yet Flawed, Sources of Public Information
by Jacqueline Wernimont
"Public health dashboards, like our many COVID-19 dashboards, are unusual in the history of dashboards in that they share information but not in a way that allows ordinary people to take action."
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SOURCE: The Week
1/26/2021
Democrats are getting Chuck Grassleyed
The Senate negotiations over the Affordable Care Act and the 2009 Recovery Act are not ancient history. It remains to be seen if Senate Democrats can learn from them.
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SOURCE: Fortune
1/17/2021
The COVID-19 Vaccination Drive May be Slow—But it’s Already Faster than Any in History
Public Health historian Jason Schwartz suggests that discontent about the pace of vaccination is due to the Trump administration's politically motivated and unrealistic promises.
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